Finally Getting Together
by Monarch Sparrowhawk
Summary: Cross-posted on AO3. My take on how Sam and Carrie got together in the comics.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not nor will I own any of the Marvel or Nova franchise.**

 **A/N: Hello! This is just a little blurb I've had in my mind for actually, years now, but never got around to actually making an account and publishing! I'm an(well was) avid reader of the Nova comic book series back in 2014 when Sam Alexander's run started, but then I sorta fell off of the series beginning of Volume 6. Imo, everything just went downhill from there, and by the time Volume 7 rolled around I just stopped keeping up for the most part. Anyways, I loved the first volume of Sam's run, and just wanted to write out how I think Sam and Carrie(Not Lina! Where the heck did she even come from!?) eventually got together in Volume 5 Issue #26: Look What the Bus Dragged In. To set up a bit of background for those who have not read that issue or the issues leading up to it, Sam's helmet has been damaged and is no longer Nova, and he now is leading the life of a normal teenager. Carrie's boyfriend broke up with her and she and Sam then finally began a relationship. Here's how I like to think it went.**

* * *

It was one of the hottest days in Sam's life. Granted, he lived in a freaking desert, but this was hotter than usual, even for Arizona. Today the weather forecaster on channel 6 predicted the peak heat to reach to about 112.9°F, a record high for Carefree. Shutting his eyes he let his shoulders slump and his head fall on the kitchen table with a resounding thump.

"Ughhh…" He groaned.

 _Thwap!_

"Oww!" He cried out, clutching his head. He heard Kaelynn across the table laughing at him. Looking up he saw his mother looming over him with a fly swatter in her hand. She had her arms crossed and a frown settled onto her face.

"Samuel Jesse Alexander! What have I told you about smearing your sweaty face all over my table!?" She yelled, exasperated.

"Not to. Sorry mamá." Sam said tiredly. He rubbed the spot on his head that she previously hit with the fly swatter. His mother sighed, and set down the fly swatter. Reaching over she rubbed the spot on her son's head she swatted and murmured,

"I'm sorry too _mi hijo_. Just don't do it again. Now get your backpack and get in the car with your sister. School starts in 20 minutes."

And with that Sam gathered his homework(which was actually done for once) and quickly dressed in the most lightweight clothes he could find, a pair of gray basketball shorts and a red Arizona Cardinals muscle shirt. Slipping his backpack onto one shoulder he hopped around on one foot as he tried to put his sneakers on, and rushed out the door. Locking the door behind him he swiftly made his way over to the car and sank into the passenger's seat.

"Took you long enough!" His mother laughed warmly. She was dressed in her work uniform of a yellow shirt and green pants. Starting the car she immediately turned up the air conditioning and pulled out of the driveway. "It's really hot today, isn't it?"

Both children grunted in agreement. Kaelynn started unzipping her backpack.

"Hey Sammy! Do you wanna see what I brought for show and tell?" She asked excitedly. Sam turned his head around and smiled. Nodding his head he said,

"Sure. Let's see what ya got Kae."

The little girl grinned and her pigtails flounced around as she quickly began digging through her backpack. Today she was dressed in her favorite white Avengers tank top, and purple shorts with flip-flops. She pulled out what looked like a cross between one of the beloved characters from that Disney movie she loved(and Sam was a pretty big fan of the movie too, there's aliens!) Stitch, and a goblin if Sam was being honest with himself. He remembered winning it for her in a raffle at a county fair. Smiling he asked,

"Hey what's Mr. Fuzzy Wuzzy doing out of bed so early? I thought he slept till noon!"

Kaelynn giggled and held out the weird stuffed animal proudly and beamed up at Sam.

"He decided he wanted to go to school today with me!"

"Heh, well just make sure you don't lose him okay?" Sam chuckled. Kaelynn nodded her head furiously and clutched the stuffed animal close to her chest. Sam felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Here we are! Have a good day at school _mijo_!" His mother leaned in to kiss his cheek.

"Mamá, don't do that! It's embarrassing." He muttered, his cheeks flushing scarlet. Scowling, his mother grabbed the back of his neck and kissed the top of his head.

" _Mi hijo_ , I am your mother and I will kiss your cheek whenever and wherever I want! We are family, are you ashamed of showing affection for your own poor mama?" Eva cried out, keeping a firm hold on Sam's shirt collar. In the back seat Sam could hear his little sister giggling. Groaning, he quickly kissed his mother's cheek and reached back to ruffle Kaelynn's hair, earning a surprised yelp from his younger sibling.

"I'm sorry mamá, I shouldn't be so rude." He apologized, before hopping out of the car.

"See you later!"

* * *

Carrie groaned. Looking at her phone she impatiently tapped her foot against the sidewalk. Diego was supposed to be picking her up 12 minutes ago. Glancing at her device, she pulled up her contacts and raised her finger, hovering over her current boyfriend's number. Knitting her eyebrows together and scrunching her nose, she debated whether or not she should call.

 _Honk honk!_

A car horn's sudden beeping startled her and she jumped. Whipping her head up she saw her boyfriend obnoxiously honking his horn, over and over again. Shoving her phone in her back pocket she opened the side door and slipped in the passenger seat. Diego started driving. Glaring at her boyfriend she said steely,

"You're late. Again."

"Woah babe! Chill out! I just got behind this morning!" He put his hands up in a placating gesture. All of the sudden the car started swerving into the sidewalk. Eyes widening Carrie quickly took the wheel and straightened them out. Slapping the back of her idiot boyfriend's head she yelled,

"Hands on the wheel you idiot! You're going to get us killed!"

"Kay geez! It was only for a sec!"

Huffing she crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the passenger side window. Feeling a buzzing in her shorts she took out her phone. On it was a notification from Sam Alexander, her best friend. At least, she still considered him that, even with all of the stuff he refuses to talk to her about making her mad. She's not an idiot, she knew something strange was up when his dad mysteriously disappeared. And when she met that weird glowy guy with the helmet at the skate park she almost immediately recognized him as Sam. No matter how ridiculous he tried to make his voice sound, she knew it was him. And then when she went to confront him about it later in his garage, he refused to acknowledge it, so she stormed off and told him to talk to her when he's done being a jerk. So far, that hasn't happened yet. Sure, he asks her to help him watch Kaelynn from time to time and they had few awkward mini conversations in the hallway, they weren't nearly as close as what they used to be. Unlocking her phone she went to messages and found a text from Sam saying,

 _7:08 am Today_

 _Hey Carebear! I know it's been awhile but I was hoping we could hang out sometime? Like how we used to?_ _I think I'm ready to talk about_ _ **things.**_

Carrie snorted and typed a quick reply. She'd give anything for their relationship to go back to what it used to be. Taking a quick glance at his otherwise occupied girlfriend, Diego asked,

"Who you texting babe?"

"Sam."

"Wait, Sam as in Sam Alexander-the-not-so-great?" He laughed nastily. He yelped though as a second later Carrie harshly hit the back of his head. Looking angrily at him she said heatedly,

"Don't you ever call him that again."

"Why do you even care? It's not like you two even talk to each other anymore anyways."

"I care because he's still my best friend. And as my boyfriend you should at the very least respect him."

"Whatever." He huffed, and then he started mumbling some under his breath. When she strained to listen closely she thought she heard him cuss and say her name.

' _Ugh, what a douche. Why am I dating him again? Oh right, cause I'm lonely and I wanted attention. Usually Sam's here to help me not make these bad decisions. I miss him.'_ Carrie thought quietly to herself. Diego pulled into a parking spot and parked. Opening her door she made to get out of the car only to feel a hand clamp down around her wrist. Yanking her back in Diego kissed her hard, too much tongue and not much of anything else. Pulling her hand free she mumbled something of a goodbye and walked to the front doors. Checking her phone she saw she had only 10 minutes to get to class. Thankfully they were allowed to have backpacks in class, so she didn't have to stop by her locker. Taking a left she made a beeline for room A-224, Ms. Schafer's homeroom class. Which she again, thankfully does not have with Diego. But she did share that class with Sam. Biting her lip, she took a deep breath and walked in, only to met with a pleasant surprise. Instead of arriving right before the bell rang, as per usual, there he was. Sam freaking Alexander was there, sitting on top of her desk, waving at her nonchalantly. 6 months ago, this would be a usual occurrence. But then they had their fight-but-also-not-really-a-fight fight. Feeling a smile creep up on her face she strode over to her desk and waved back.

"Hey." She said quietly.

"Hey." He replied back, just as quietly. He pushed himself up off her desk and they both stood there, awkwardly staring at each other. Looking down Carrie pretended to study her black sandals, and then she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. Leaning her head back up, she saw Sam rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"So, um, great weather we're having today." He stuttered. Gosh he was so cringy it as almost painful to watch. Carrie snorted saying,

"Great weather we're having? It's frickin' 112 degrees outside. That the best s*** you could come up?" The words flew out of her mouth before she even realized what she was saying. Both their eyes met in a super tense stare, until a few seconds later when they both doubled over in laughter.

"Well you haven't changed one bit. Nice to see that my favorite goth still has her crude charm."

"Well at least I got something. What about you? Anything new?"

"Well, I um, my arm's better. And I've actually started getting good at chess. You?

Carrie hesitated to answer. She forgot about his arm. He had done something to it in what she could only assume was during that whole fiasco with the Hulk.

"That's good to hear. I uh, school's been good, parent's are fine, and I um, have a boyfriend."

"Oh?"

Carrie could have sworn she saw Sam's face fall a little bit at the last part. Suddenly she regretted saying that. She knew that despite being best friends, she really, really liked Sam. She always kinda figured they were endgame. Best friends since preschool turned high school sweethearts. Except it never happened. Sam started leaving her more and more out of his life and she got tired of his crap. Maybe things could, no would change.

"Yeah."

"So, um, when did you guys get together?"

"A month ago." She refused to say this was the third fling she had since her and Sam stopped talking. Each guy seemed to be worst than the last. She was sure if she told Sam he would start coddling her, and that wasn't what she needed or wanted right now.

"Who is it? Anybody I know?"

"Diego Sanchez."

Sam wrinkled his nose and narrowed his eyes at the mention of Diego.

"Diego? The douche that hangs out with Moffet?"

"You know just because he hangs out with Moffet that doesn't mean he's a bad guy!"

"He better be treating you right though."

"Oh, like you have?"

Sam stiffened. Carrie crossed her arms defensively. That was a low blow from both sides. Sam started heading towards his own desk. Carrie rushed forward and grabbed his wrist.

"Listen, I really don't want to fight. I miss you. Can we please just forget about this?"

Sam turned around, and looked deep in thought. After mulling it over for a few seconds he put on a small smile and said,

"Sure. I miss you too Care."

Then the bell rang and they both went to their respective desks.

* * *

 **A/N: So I just realized I'm going to make this be a two-parter fic. Be on the lookout for chapter 2! Comments and especially constructive criticism are welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

_2:17 pm Today_

 _Sam: Hey so I gtg pick up Kae and walk her home, so do you wanna meet later? Say around 7:30? My mom just told me she's gonna be late getting home from work. Sorry._

 _2:18 pm_

 _Carrie: It's okay. Where at?_

 _2:22 pm_

 _Sam: Hmm, the skate park?_

 _2:24 pm_

 _Carrie: That's ok. See ya then._

 _2:25pm_

 _Sam: Talk to ya later Carebear._

Carrie smiled softly at the old nickname. He hadn't called her that in months. Looking up at the front of the room she saw the teacher was still droning on and on, unaware that his students weren't paying attention to his lesson. Fiddling with the black ponytail-holder on her wrist she looked around her. She didn't share this class with anyone she really knew.

 _Ring! Ring!_

The final bell rang, and she was the first one to shoot up out of her seat and walk out the door. She needed to get a head start on walking home before her boyfriend could find her and she would have to suffer his terrible driving. Racing through the halls she skipped down the front steps of the school and started on her way home. She just made it to the corner when she heard a familiar holler. Stopping like a deer caught in the headlights, she groaned and turned around.

"Hey babe! Where are ya goin?" an obnoxious voice sounded.

She cursed under her breath. She did not need this right now. Quickening her pace she tried ignoring her boyfriend. She yelped when she felt a rough hand pull back on her shoulder and spin her around. Diego was staring her down, annoyed.

"Hey why are ya ignoring me babe? Did you forget I'm driving you home?" He asked, an edge in his voice. Carrie shrugged his hand off her shoulder.

"I really didn't feel like it today. I think I'm just gonna walk home. See ya later." And with that she turned back around, intent on going home as fast as she could.

"Does this have anything to do with you meeting up with Bilbo after school?" He sneered. Carrie froze mid-step. Whipping her head around she asked,

"Why does it matter? Who even told you?"

"I heard it going around. People noticed you two talking again, and they thought I should know."

"Nothing's going on, if that's what you're thinking."

"Nothing yet. C'mon I'm not stupid, contrary to popular belief. You and Alexander have been making goo-goo eyes at each other since 5th grade. Admit it, you would leave me in a split-second for him." He accused. Carrie tightened her grip on her book bag strap, body shaking.

"We're just friends, and that's all there's ever going to be. He's too oblivious to pick up on hints like that anyways." She barked out bitterly. Diego huffed behind her.

"Hey, listen, I'm just going to make this easier on the both of us. I'm breaking up with you. You don't want to be in a relationship with me, and I don't want to be in a relationship with a girl who wants another guy. Find your own way home." He said flippantly, walking off. Carrie's mind numbed.

"Did that really just happen?" She asked herself, standing there with the sun beating down mercilessly on her. She numbly took one step forward, and then another, and another until she finally reached her front porch. Jamming her key into the lock she opened the front door to see one of her mom, Christine, sitting on the couch, reading a book.

"Hey sweetie how was school?" She asked, putting her book down to look at her daughter. Carrie paused to answer.

"It was fine."

"Anything you want to tell me about?"

"Not really."

"Why are you home later than usual? Doesn't Diego usually drop you off earlier?" chimed in another voice. It was her other mom, Mayuko. It came from the kitchen.

"Not today, we um, broke up."

Carrie pretended not to hear her moms' whoops of joy. They both came walking into the living room and wrapped her up in a hug.

"Ahem, um, I'm really sorry sweetie." said Christine said softly, rubbing her daughter's back in comforting circles.

"To be fair though, he was a jerk."

"Koko!" Christine elbowed her wife sharply.

"What!? It's true. You're better off without him sweetheart." Mayuko murmured into her daughter's ear. Carrie smiled at her mother's antics.

"Don't worry, I'm okay. Hey is it alright if I go out later?" Carrie asked.

"Sure. Who with?"

"Sam." she said hesitantly. She knew what was coming. Not even half a second later, her moms started pestering her with an onslaught of invasive questions.

"Sam as in Sam Alexander?

"Sammy? You haven't talked about him in forever!"

"How is he?"

"He's fine. We're hanging out at the skate park later, if that's okay with you guys." Carrie half mumbled, focused on finding an escape route to her room. She loved her moms, but they were just too nosy for their own good sometimes.

"That's great sweetheart!" Christine squealed excitedly. The sound of it hurt Carrie's ears. Both her moms started talking in hushed tones. She could pick out words such as, "Finally… always liked him…"

Carrie found her opportunity. Making a mad dash for the stairs she quickly made her way up to her room. She shrugged her book bag off her shoulder and let it fall to the ground with a thud. She winced.

"Carrie sweetheart, what are you doing?" Christine called up to her. Carrie bent down and took out her math book. Settling into her desk she opened it up and pulled out her notebook, flipping it open to a blank sheet of paper.

"Homework!" She answered back. Looking at her open book she groaned. It was logarithms. ' _Might as well get it over with.'_ She thought silently to herself. Looking at the clock it read 3:27. She had time.

* * *

 _7:35_

He was late. Typical. For a guy that could fly all the way around the world and back in under 20 minutes, he was always running late for some reason or another. Carrie sighed, shoving her phone back in her pocket. She was leaning up against the wooden fence on the South side of the skate park, where it was a little closed off. ' _Perfect for a conversation about superheroes and secret identities.'_ She thought silently to herself. A hand rested on her shoulder.

"Hey Care."

She screamed. Spinning around she glared at Sam, who was holding his sides, laughing. Her face turned red. Fuming she pinched his ear.

"Ow ow ow. What did ya have to do that!?" He cried out holding his ear.

"Well don't scare me again like that!" She answered. The hispanic boy had the decency to look a little sheepish. Scratching the back of his head he cast his eyes down,

"Sorry about that."

"Yeah, you should be."

Silence ensued. Carrie pulled herself up and propped herself up on the wooden fence. It wasn't that high, so it was easy to get on top on. It may have been a little creaky though.

"So, um, I don't have any idea how to start this." he said honestly, raking a hand through his spiky hair nervously. Carrie glanced at him, anf flipped her braid over her shoulder.

"Well, at the beginning sounds like a good place to start." She told him. He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, before turning away and pinching the bridge of his nose, taking in a deep breath. Looking up at the darkening sky he started talking, softy.

"Well I guess it all started when my dad went missing. I was coming home after hanging around with you and Blake and he wasn't there. Mom said he hadn't come home that day. I immediately assumed he tried running out on us, so I got my skateboard and went searching for him."

Carrie looked back at him, nodding in confirmation that she was listening.

"So while I was on my skateboard, I tripped on a rock and knocked myself out."

She snorted, he laughed a little as well.

"Stupid, I know. But when I cam to in the hospital, there was this green lady with a huge knife sword thing, and taccon with a gun and jetpack. They gave me this."

He shrugged a drawstring bag off his back, which she just took notice of. Opening it up he pulled out this weird, helmet thing. It was black with a red star on it, and looked quite like a bucket.

"What is that? Can I see it?" She asked, curious. Crossing over a few feet closer to her, he held it out, motioning for her to hold it. Holding it in her hands, she took a closer look at it. It was very obviously damaged, with one side being crumpled up and one of the lense broken. She felt Sam pull himself up next to her on the fence, which groaned under their combined weight.

"What happened next?" She asked, quietly. Sma looked down at his lap and started twiddling with his thumbs.

"They told me that my dad was some kind of hero, a Black Nova. It's like the Black Ops, but in space I guess. They recruited him for some mission, and well, he didn't come back."

Carrie paused. "Sam…" She spoke softly. As if he would break. He was starting to shake now.

" I still didn't believe it. Thought it was all some elaborate prank. Later while messing around with the helmet I put it on, and well, that's when I knew. My dad left me a message, apologizing, for being a bad father and that he couldn't come home. Told me not to trust anyone. To take care of mom and Kaelynn." He held out his hand. She handed the helmet back to him. Looking into its eyes he gripped the edges tightly. And then proceeded to chuck it as far away from them as he could.

"He tried to tell me, for years, and I never listened to him! I thought he was a failure! I was horrible to him, right up until the day he left! And now he's gone." His voice croaked out the last part. His eyes were wet. Carrie rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Sam, I had no idea. I should have been there for you."

"You didn't know, it's not your fault Care."

"And it's not yours either. You do know it's not your fault, whatever happened to him, right?" Sam refused to meet her eyes.

"I know. I just wish, that he didn't leave when things between us were so… bad. I was a pretty s*** son, wasn't I? Alexander-the-not-so-great?" He echoed the dumb nickname Moffet and his friends would throw around at school. They've both heard worse, but neither one of them wanted to acknowledge that. Carrie had nothing to say. She just rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back.

"Well, I think you're pretty great." The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. Feeling awkward, she started to pull away until Sam gripped his arms tighter around her. Burying his face on the top of her head he said,

"You too."

Carrie's cheeks turned red. Sam grabbed one of her hands and intertwined their fingers. She pulled him closer. They sat together, in comfortable silence. A warm breeze blew by.

"So… does this count as a date or…?" Sam started out slowly. For what felt like the millionth time she snorted. Her best-friend(or was it boyfriend now?) was such a dork.

"Depends." Carrie replied.

"On what?"

"Do you want it to be date?"

"Yes. If you want to, date me, that is."

"I've waited this long milk carton. Don't you dare make me wait any longer."


End file.
